http://WarLight.net/SinglePlayer.aspx?PreviewMap=15608

Hello, I am making map of a school. I play often with my friends in the testing phase. I have read the Wiki on "Map Requirements," but still have questions.

Being a map of a school that spans three levels, there had to be made many connections between territories that appeared far apart. As much as I tried to orient the buildings, there were some territories that simply could not be placed near each other. Moreover, some territories that are adjacent to each other may not be connected in the terms of gameplay. I do not know if this will create confusion, or whether this is allowed.

To solve the issue of not seeing the connections, I have placed many paths (in purple) to connect the various zones. There are also stairwells in the map, so I have placed color markers on each of the stairwell to inform where they connect. Again, I do not know whether it is permissible to show the connections in these ways.

The one item I have the highest doubt on is "The Elevator" (circle in upper middle). Since the portions to which the elevator connect are within the building, lines are not appropriate; the color markers I believe would also not be appropriate. Instead, I created a path union between the elevator and small indicator blocks that are next to the territories to which the elevator connect. Would this be confusing in any way?

Thanks for taking the time to read and check the map. I could also test with people if they so wish, but to make public, I must see if these requirements are met. Sadly, I must also talk with leaders of my school to see if there is any infringements -_-

_mJoe_

Well, I think the rules are more or less guidelines. Your goal should be to make a playable map.

Looking at a few items:

Territories that touch, but don't connect. - Generally a bad idea to have these.
Add some space between the territories, maybe put in a separate colored path to show some division.
An example would be the Men's and Women's Bathrooms at the right part of the top building. I see how it makes sense that it would only be connected to the lower 400 hallway, but many Warlighters would be confused that it doesn't connect to Harkola's office.

See the Japan Map for breaks in territories where there are rivers unable to be crossed.
http://warlight.net/SinglePlayer.aspx?PreviewMap=8719

Another thing that might need clarification is where rooms connect to hallways. Maybe make the hallway territories not end where there could be confusion, or you could add a door cutout to the Path that shows where the door would swing.


Connecting Lines:
I realize you're still in testing/development, but it appears confusing when the lines go through other territories. Example: Mainly Sophomore Traffic has a purple line that appears to go to Special Ed Room, but I think what's happening is that the connection line is going through the building and over to Front Entrance.

Maybe you could clean this up a bit. Either re-route the line, or change how it looks. Consider stopping it short and putting an arrow on each end before it actually touches the territory. See Huruey's Castle as one example that uses the arrows and even dotted lines: http://warlight.net/SinglePlayer.aspx?PreviewMap=11704

Also, why do you sometimes have 2 purple lines connecting the same two territories? Consider making 1. EX: Video Column and Way to Canada.

Elevator:
Maybe you could have an outline around the elevator territory? Sorta like color coding. Why doesn't the elevator connect to Old Lower 400 Interior Hallway.

Bonus Links:
This caused the most confusion for me. I couldn't really get at what you were going for. Consider keeping the bonus links next to the bonus. Maybe the mega-bonuses can be separate.

Bonus Values:
Generally not a good idea to have single territory bonuses, especially of 4 value. They overweight themselves compared to much harder bonuses to hold onto. They may be a chokepoint, but still...

Clearing things up with school:
I wouldn't put anybody's name on it unless you had their individual permission to do so. Just put room numbers, or make a funny similar name.

Map Overview:
Consider labeling upper/lower, etc. To provide orientation for the game players.

1. Get rid of the elevator bonus, and get rid of any connections which aren't intuitive. Such as the one between 'Centre' and 'Other Cafeteria'. It might not be accurate, but you have to sacrifice that for playability.

2. Make the bonus squares next to or on top of the actual territories that make up the bonus. How would I know the territory 'Server Housing' was worth 1 without clicking on every single bonus link until I found the bonus(es) it belonged to?

3. One problem with maps based on buildings, which I notice on another map of a school (I think a high school) is that some rooms only link to one other room, while there are a few hallways which link to a dozen. I would suggest splitting hallways into multiple territories. An example is Pot Lane, Broadway, Leaking Hallway, 500 Hallway.

Sorry, I see what you've done with the elevator territory now. I would agree with John that you shouldn't have bonuses for single territories that are worth any more than 1. Especially when they are already strategically important.

Thank you both for the feedback, I'll update straight away with these criticisms in mind.

I think part of the problem is that you know perfectly well what these buildings look like, what's "supposed" to connect where and what "obviously" doesn't connect.

Suggestion: go play a few games on this map: http://warlight.net/Map.aspx?ID=236 That one isn't perfect either, but for this purpose that's actually good; it can show you which kinds of issues are non-obvious to people who don't know the building.

I think visualising walls (putting a small separation between adjacent rooms which do not connect) would help a lot. You could make rooms touch only where the doors are, but it might be easier for you (and more clearly visible to players) if you just have the entire walls touch on the side(s) with a door.

The elevator does not seem to make any sense at all... Either your school was designed by a very expensive (read: completely insane :p ) architect, or you linked up some territories incorrectly:

• What does the round "Elevator" territory represent? The only thing which I can imagine is it's the elevator "cage" (is that the word??) itself. I think you should either remove it, or give it a name more clearly describing what it is; right now it's mainly confusing.
  
• Assuming it's the elevator itself, I think it would make far more sense if it connected to the elevator "rooms" on either floor and nothing else.
  
• Is it one of those elevator with doors on two sides (on the map: left and right)? Because on the ground floor, it connects to Loitering Area and Secret (but not to Interior Hallway, which I'd normally expect) , on the top floor it connects to Atrium (to be expected either way, since it's on both the left and top sides) and the Hallway System.
  
• Why not simply treat the elevator the same way you treat the stairwells; one territory per floor, connect them to each other and that's it...?

Some things which may or may not be correct.

• In building "100": the room "Left Theatre Entrance" doesn't connect to "Ticket Sales", while "Right Theatre Entrance" does.
  
• In many cases, pairs of men's and women's bathrooms connect to each other?
  
• There are a lot of rooms which connect to their "neighbour", even though my gut instinct tells me there's probably not a door between them (in reality, you should go through a hallway to get to the other room). That's not necessarily a problem, but I do think you should be consistent and use the same system throughout the entire map.

Combining the (super)bonus squares for both floors in one location is confusing. How about putting the regular bonus squares as closely to the relevant territories as possible, combining the superbonus squares into a group per building and per floor and putting the megabonus squares (covering multiple floors) together somewhere? If you retain the current colours I think it would still be clear which superbonuses belong to each megabonus.

If you want to have any hope at all of your school approving this map, you might want to rename the territory currently called "Pot Lane"...

Just out of curiosity: is your school build on top of a hill or something?? The upper floor seems to extend beyond the area covered by the lower floor...

Welcome back, RvW!

Fizzer posts something not directly related to the game!
Also, I think this is his shortest post ever.
But, back on topic, I completely agree with what RvW says. Other than the fact I don't see how the upper floor is larger than the lower floor.
Also, I must say, the bonus link position is horrible. I can't tell what link belongs to what bonus.